krib questions

sophiecat22

sophiecat22

AC Members
Jul 25, 2006
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St. Pete, FL
Hey there! My boyfriend and I just recently decided to upgrade from our little 10gal to a 30gal tank. We'd really like to get a 55gal, but unfortunately, we don't have the room for it. Anyways, I was originally planning on the traditional freshwater community aquarium but decided I wanted something a little different. When I came across P. pulcher on a fish profile website, I immediately fell in love.

My question is this; could I keep a krib by itself, or are they better in pairs? and would a pair be happy in a 30gal tank? I don't want to breed them though, and I realize that 2 males would likely fight (correct me if I'm wrong) but what about 2 females? I also read on the same website, and a few others, that with caution I could keep loaches with kribs. I'd really like to have some yoyo loaches but I'm not sure how they would work out seeing as both loaches and kribs are bottom dwellers. I would like to have something other than kribs in my tank. What fish, other than another african cichlid, are compatible with kribs? I was thinking 1-2 kribs, a bristlenose plec (not too sure about a pleco now though as I have read some horror stories of cichlids plucking out the eyes of the poor plecos), and a school of 5-6 tiger barbs or maybe cherry barbs. Any thoughts on this mix? Any other schooling fish that might work?

On another note, slightly off topic question... I was going to get another bio-wheel filter, penguin 200B (filters 200gph, too much for a 30 gal??), because I love them oh so much lol, but have discovered the H.O.T. Magnum Canister Filter complete with a bio-wheel. It's rated for aquariums up to 50 gallons, as is the 200B, but I'm wondering if that would be too much for a 30 gallon? I've never had a canister filter and I'm a little worried that the maintenance might be a little much. If anyone has, or has had, a H.O.T. Magnum, I'd really appreciate it if you shared your experiences with these filters with me.

Thanks so much for your time!!

Steph
 
How's about staying with the African theme, and get some congo tetra's instead of tiger barbs? Far superior imo.

And get a female krib as well, as they apparently are easy to breed? Not sure if they are monogamous or polygamous (pair or harem) as I've never kept them.

And an upside down catfish?

Might get a bit crowded in there though as I'm not sure of stocking capacity for a 30g, but just throwing a suggestion, as no-one's replied to you.
 
Thanks Pugwash. I've heard that they are easy to breed, but I'm not looking to breed them. I just want a community type set-up with a pair of kribs. If they spawn then so be it...


how about this mix:

2 kribs
5-6 tetras -or- barbs (probably tiger or cherry) -or- rasboras
1-2 yoyo loaches
1 BN pleco -or- 2-3 otocinclus

I believe a 30 gal measures 30"x12"x18" if that helps any :)
 
A pair of kribs is good, and can be very colouful at times (breeding especially) - make sure you have 2-3 caves for them to seek shelter in.

6 schooling fish is good. Don't bother with either the tiger barbs or cherry. The tiger barbs will nibble the fins on your kribs, and the cherry barbs do not school at all, but individually go about their business. How's about the 5 banded barb (pentazona) - they look very similar to tiger barbs, but without the nippiness. Alternatively, you could get 8-10 neons, or pretty much 6 of any other tetra (except the likes of Serpae's, who fin nip too).

1-2 yoyo loaches may not be enough, as they're gregarious prefering their own company and need at least 3-4 to be happy. BN Pleco could work, as with all pleco's they are pooing machines. Have you considered a zebra plec (4" adult size) - imo the nicest. A canister filter would be perfect for these, and are imo easy to maintain - you can never over-filter water, it just makes our lives a lot easier. Go get it.
A little pleco, 3 oto's and some shrimps could be interesting (loaches and shrimp don't mix). Or get a group of cories, 4-6, for even more activity on the bottom.

However, you don't have anything for the top - some dwarf gourami's? Non-annual killifish? 1M 2F would work with either of these. Siamese Fighting Fish will kill shrimp as well, bare that in mind. It just seems a bit bottom heavy atm, and personally I prefer fish at all levels, as it looks better.
 
I understand what you're saying about having fish in all levels, and I figured that the school of tetras (by the way, you didn't say anything about rasboras, would they work?) would cover the top and middle levels. I don't want my tank to be too crowded.

I'm a little confused by all the fish you've listed. I don't think you meant that 2 kribs, 6 schooling fish, 3 yoyos, a pleco, 3 ottos and shrimp could live happily together in a 30 gallon. Or did you?

If I choose to get a pleco, I wouldn't get the ottos, but I'm thinking ottos may be the better choice because of their size and my experiences with them, although the beau would prefer the BN because they "look cooler" lol. I know that I definitly want a couple of yoyo loaches, ok, I just want my kribs, my boyfriend is crazy for the yoyos lol but he really wants them so I told him that we could get a couple so now we HAVE to have yoyos :rolleyes:. Like I said, I don't want it to be too crowded, so if 3 is too much, would a pair of yoyos be happy?

I'm terrible at making decisions, incase you haven't noticed lol :duh:

As for the dwarf gouramis or siamese fighting fish, I've heard that you shouldn't keep slow-moving fish with kribs as they will become easy targets for the kribs when they spawn. And it seems to me that if I had 2 kribs, 6 tetras, 2 or 3 yoyos, and a pleco or 3 ottos, the addition of a couple gouramis might be a bit much for my bioload, correct? I think a betta might be ok, as they produce very little waste and only need a small territory to call their own, but how would he do with the kribs constantly picking on him and with all the other fish? I've heard of many people keeping bettas in community setups but I've never done so myself.
 
I didn't mean all the fishes together.

Ah, forgot about rasboras - Harlequin's shoal tightly, as do rummy nosed tetras. I'd prefer oto's to BN plec's (although I use snails for algal control) too.
I have a snail colony in my filter, with clown loaches controlling their population when they venture out, the yo-yo loaches would do the same if there are snails. Just a thought...

I have a SFF and Pearl gourami's and a RTBS (an agressive fish) and they all get along fine, as they're occupying different levels/terratories. An SFF would be fine with the kribs.

So, I think we're at:

1 Siamese Fighting Fish (1M)
6 schooling fish (1 species of barb, rasbora or tetra)
2 Kribs (1M, 1F)
3 Yo-Yo Loaches (and snails?) or 1 BN pleco & 2-3 oto's

I'm a little hesitant to add the pleco, due to territories. The kribs wil stake out one area, and the loaches will claim somewhere else (my clown loaches have commandered a log cave, and only come out at night-time now) - I'm just not sure if you have the surface area for another territory for the pleco.

I would up the number of schooling fish though, to either 8 or 10, and it will improve their schooling behaviour.

How's this sounding?
 
:bowing: This sounds great! I like the idea of having yo-yo's and snails. How do you keep a colony of snails in your filter?

ok so...

1 SFF (M)
2 kribs (1M,1F)
3 yo-yo loaches
8 schooling fish

I really like the sound of that...only problem is, I can't find any kribs. I went to Petsmart to see if they had them and they didn't even know that a kribensis was a fish! :duh:

Now about the snails, how would I go about starting my own colony? One of my LFS always seems to have an over-abundance of the little tiny snails that come in with the live plants. Could I get a few of those to start out with or should I start out with a couple mystery snails? I used to have a mystery snail that was about the size of a tennis ball lol it was huge!

Do you know of anyone who has successful cycled their tank with snails? Just a thought...
 
Yo Yo's and Mystery Snails do not mix! Nearly any loach is murder on snails. When I had a 55 planted I got the dreaded pond snail hitch-hikers who proceeded to do what they do, over run the tank. 3 Yo Yo's later you would see a few snails and some very fat loaches :D .
 
a canister is a great investment, and personally I would recommend double the required filtration AT LEAST in any tank. so the 50 Gal filter is just about right. if you are going to spend the cash on the canister though, look around - Magnums aren't really that well thought of for real enthusiasts - they can be noisy for one thing.

as far as the tank - 3 oto's would be far superior to a pleco in every aspect - waste levels, work levels, and ok, so theyre not as cool looking, but Oto's are the tank cleaning masters. if you get kribs, get either one, or a pair - females will also show aggression with other females. if you do get a pair of kribs, you WILL have spawns, and lots of them as long as the water is good. for schooling fish I would stay away from barbs in general. you may even want 6 madagascar rainbows - they only get a few inches, arent too expensive, and are awesome when in a well kept, planted tank.
and you could get snails with this combo - just be careful of where, because most 'Apple' snails are not, and love to eat your plants
 
oh, and you would still have just enough room for a couple of loaches. yo yo's are nice, but take a look at striata loaches also - I have a pair, they're very cool, and quite the clowns - all kinds of silly behavior
 
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